Angiopoietin-like 4 correlates with response to intravitreal ranibizumab injections in neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Purpose: To investigate whether the aqueous angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) level correlates with clinical features in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: The control and study groups consisted of all consecutive patients who received senile cataract surgery or intravitreal ranibizumab injection for treatment-naïve neovascular AMD, respectively. The AMD group received 3 monthly ranibizumab injections followed by monthly pro re nata for at least 12 months. Aqueous ANGPTL4 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were measured at baseline and 4 weeks after the first injection. In the AMD group, best-corrected visual acuity, lesion area by fluorescein angiography, and central subfield thickness were measured at baseline and at 12 months. Results: The AMD group (30 eyes) had higher baseline aqueous ANGPTL4 and VEGF levels than those of the control group (32 eyes) (both P
Source: RETINA - Category: Opthalmology Tags: Original Study Source Type: research